I feel like the Southern Charm cast is the most random grouping of friends on reality TV, but it does work somehow. I’ve been captivated by this show since the very beginning. And now that the new season has started airing, Shep Rose is sharing his opinions about all the relevant plot points.

Shep stopped by Bravo’s The Daily Dish podcast to open up about the season. And no matter how much (most of) the cast members don’t want to talk about Kathryn, the truth is that she is the one who makes this show interesting to watch, so she’s bound to come up as the topic of conversation in every interview.

Shep has always been a Kathryn supporter so it’s not surprising that he said, “It’s not exactly the most favorable story you would want to have out there about yourself, is it? But she’s pretty raw about it. She owns it. Good for her.”

And of course, Shep discussed his ongoing issues with Craig. Their back and forth critiques seems like a pot, meet kettle situation, but whatever, the tension makes for great TV. Shep declared, “He just would be so better-served if he looked me in the eye and was like, ‘I didn’t graduate law school, that’s why I can’t take the bar, and I’m working on it,’ I would be like ‘Okay, thank you. Where do we go from here?'”

It’s hard to tell where these two stand, but Shep did say, “We’re friends. We’re no doubt friends, but you know you just lose credibility. I’m not gonna not like you, but I’m just gonna take everything you say with a boulder of salt. Which I would like not to have to do, but I do it.”

When Shep and the podcast hosts were discussing the last season ending with that accusation about Landon and Thomas sleeping together, Shep said exactly what I was thinking when I first watched the episode: “What a funny ending. I thought that was fantastic.” I know I was living for it.

So what does he think about their compatibility? He didn’t have a ton of insight, but he did say, “I don’t know. They both can sort of go on and on about what they’re up to, so maybe they’d be a good match.” I also couldn’t help laughing when Shep added, “You know, she likes horses. He has the farm with the horses.” That sounds like an ideal match to me, but I really just want these two to get together (officially) for the drama.

And of course the conversation came back to the real star of this show- Kathryn. Shep declared, “Kathryn has a tremendous following on Bravo and my theory is that there’s a large swath of the viewing public on Bravo that are scorned women and Kathryn is their patron saint. Think about it, she was a with a powerful, older man and had two kids, did not get the ring, not the best situation for her, so I think women sit at home like ‘Ah shit. I’m with her.’ So I think that that’s a thing.” Plus, she is the only one on this show who provides consistent entertainment. All of the offense intended, but there are a lot of boring people in this main cast.

Once again, Shep was reading my mind when he declared, “I think that Thomas gets a free pass too often in some of his antics. He’s always invited to this and that and she’s not and I don’t think that’s fair.” Sure, aside from Shep and Craig, most of these people aren’t friends with Kathryn, but she does make the show interesting, so if I was in the cast, I would invite her to every event I possibly could. Shep added, “I don’t think it’s always her fault. She doesn’t really get a voice in the group sometimes and I think that’s unfair.”

Then things got super interesting when Shep was asked if things were awkward between he and Landon after she professed her “love” for him. He confessed, “We frankly are not terribly close at the moment. Because of that? No. Some other stuff. Nothing romantic.” Oh. I am intrigued!

He vaguely explained, “We just sort of like pissed each other off last summer and you know, I mean I can be kind of a son of a bitch sometimes, but she’s not without blame on our current relationship status. So we’ll always have the base, we’ve known each other for a long time, and we’ll always be friends, but right now things aren’t perfect between us, I would say.” But why? Shep doesn’t really say, but he did confirm that we will get to see this play out during the season. Finally- Landon actually has a story line!

Shep also said, “[Landon] like adopts Austen [Kroll] and calls him ‘My new Shep.’ Well, the crazy thing is he’s sort of with Chelsea [Meissner], but they’re clearly chumming it up, and it’s gonna be like ‘Oh no.’ It’s gonna be good. The season’s good like that. There’s little stuff going on where you’re like ‘Uh oh.'” I cannot wait to see how that goes.

Tonight is an all new episode of Southern Charm. Bravo tells us what to expect tonight: “As Cameran gets a sneak peek at motherhood, Kathryn’s trip to Malibu proved to be more than just sun bathing and surfing. Meanwhile, Shep confronts Craig once again about the true nature of his legal career, but leaves their friendship on the field. And as Landon prepares to launch her website, a new romance begins to percolate as Thomas realizes he needs a step-mother for his children.” Join us here in the comments as we watch the show together and pick apart every moment! The fun starts at 9/8 CST!

TELL US- ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT SHEP & LANDON AREN’T ON GOOD TERMS THESE DAYS?